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2015/11/08
Mönch – Nollen

Yesterday me and my friend Robert Lönnell took advantage of the amazing autumn weather and went to Grindelwald for a quick ascent up to 4107m high Mönch by the North/West Nollen route.

The drive by car to Grindelwald and the Bernese Oberland 4000m peaks is less than two hours from Engelberg. This neighbor massif is home of nine 4000m peaks including Mönch and Jungfrau. Also, not to forget, the famous Eiger Nordwand.

We arrived at Grindelwald at 14.30 o’clock in the afternoon and took the train up to Kleine Scheidegg at 2061m. From Kleine Scheidegg you can enjoy the view over the Eiger, Mönch and Junfrau North faces. Amazing! Without stress we arrived to the Guggihütte at 17.00 after a nice +900m walk. From the hut the views and evening sunset is breathtaking. The Guggihütte is not manned in off-season but it has a open fully equipped winter room.

The Nollen Route is an ice/snow super classic. The route takes a straight and evident line up the North/West face of Mönch. From the hut you climb easy rocky ground, zig-zaging and following cairns up to Mönchplateau, 3110m. From there, you continue straight up the snow slopes until you arrive to the foot of Nollen passage. The overall alpine grade is D with ice passage of 60°-70 degrees.  From summit the descent the by the South ridge is knife-sharp. The ridge and some easy rock down-climbing makes the roundtrip varied and complete.

We used 6 ice-screws, 4 quick-draws and 50m rope. It took us 3h45min from Guggihütte to summit. 2hours from summit down to Jungfraujoch.

Guiding

Nollen is a perfect route for climbers who looks for develop their snow and ice-climbing skills and in meanwhile climb a classic beautiful 4000m peak. Mönch can be combined with ascent of Jungfrau, 4158m and Eiger, 3970m by staying in Mönchjoch hütte and Mittellegi hütte.

Nollen can be climbed from early spring to late autumn. In spring it can also be a project for motivated ski-mountaineers who looks for steep glaciated skiing. I can really recommend the route in autumn as we did it. Calm, not much people and perfect conditions and temperatures. October and November is a perfect time for mountain climbs like this.

 

 

 

2015/10/22
Engelberg offpist

Winter is coming closer and in between pre-season physical preparation for skiing I’m planning my guide calendar for upcoming season. Perhaps you planning your winter as well? Here’s some info concerning Engelberg offpist possibilities which might you choose Engelberg upcoming winter.

New express gondola lift at Titlis

Since last year the lift company at Titlis has built a new express gondola. Making the Engelberg offpist area even more accessible for upcoming season. The 8-seated gondola takes you from bottom station to Stand at 2428m in only 16min. Also reducing the queuing time significantly especially on weekends and powder days.

“The big five” or “the big six”

You might have heard of the big five before? Engelberg offpist area is known worldwide. Freeride skiing from top of Mount Titlis give you more than 2000 vertical meters backcountry skiing down to the bottom of the valley. The skiing is on North aspects, which means the snow stays cold for a long time even after long periods of sunny weather. There are five big classic offpist runs on Mount Titlis:

  • Laub – 1000m even offpist run down huge snowfields
  • Steinberg – From top station straight down the Steinberg Glacier to Trübsee.
  • Sulz – Choose between huge snowfields or playful freeride terrain with lots cliffs.
  • Wendenlücke – Earn your turns… short boot-pack or hike with skins – untracked powder!
  • Galtiberg – The most impressive and challenging offpist run of the big five.

In my opinion there’s one big run missing here because of its easy access and high quality skiing.  The “Titlis Round Tour” is a great day tour for good skiers who can manage some basic ski-mountaineering skills such as rappelling and glacier travel. Perhaps the Tiltis Round Tour isn’t on the list because of it involves some easy ski-mountaineering elements? Lets change that!

Engelberg offpist

For upcoming winter season 2016 we have special package called “Engelberg Backcountry skiing”. This package consists four days offpist guiding at secret spots in the valley of Engelberg. The weekend is a collaboration with the local guide bureau, me and Hotel Hoheneck. The package include four nights stay in double room at Hotel Hoheneck with half board included, steady breakfast and three course dinner.

See you in Engelberg!

/Tobias

2015/09/19
Autumn days – Hardergrat trail

Last days I had nice visit from my friend and photographer Jakob Edholm, shooting trail running in the beautiful scenery and surroundings of Interlaken and Engelberg.

Above the lake Brienzersee, from Interlaken to the Rothorn train station above the little city Brienz you find a fantastic trail called Hardergrat. The ridge is 23km long with +3000m elevation gain. You will enjoy every meter of this trail because of its beauty, absolutely fantastic.

We started 05.15 from Interlaken and we had about two hours with head torches in the darkness before catching the sun-rise at perfect timing. It took us eight hours to finish the trail involving lots of stops for photo shooting and coffee breaks. At Rothorn panorama restaurant you get rewarded with a nice lunch and fantastic views over the Berner Oberlands high peaks.

You find further info and more photos from this trail at my Hardergrat trail running/hiking offer here.

 

Goldies

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  • 2022-08-29 | NEW PRODUCT – Urner Haute Route, summer adventure trek